Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series: Book 2 of The Grisha

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (June 4, 2013) 

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

You might have noticed that I featured the third book of The Grisha earlier in the month in one of my Waiting on Wednesdays. It goes without saying, I continue to enjoy this series very much! Still, it’s only natural for readers to compare sequels with their predecessors, and the truth is I did not think Siege and Storm was as strong as Shadow and Bone. 

There are several reasons for this. I don’t want to single this book out because this is certainly not the only time I’ve felt this way, but it does serve to illustrate a pattern I’ve been noticing with me and a lot of young adult novels lately: Book One manages to make me fall in love with the characters and impresses me with a sweet, endearing little romance, and then invariably Book Two will show up with teenage melodrama and start stirring the pot. 

Thing is, I haven’t stopped rooting for Alina and Mal. I still love the fact they started out as childhood friends first, and that their trials and tribulations in the first book brought them together and made them see that their relationship might be something more. But of course, YA conventions dictate that NO ONE can ever be allowed to remain in a loving, happy relationship, dammit! Seems to be the case especially when it comes to middle books of a trilogy.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I appreciate a bit of dramatics here and there to help spice things up. But why do they always have to stem from some form of silly misunderstanding or a simple case of miscommunication? You two are best friends, maybe you should try talking to each other. And a love triangle? I thought we’d dodged a bullet with that one when the Darkling turned out to be a nasty in the first book. 

Thankfully, Sturmhond, the third wheel in question, doesn’t seem like a bad sort, especially given his secret and intriguing background. Dashing, confident, and just tolerably vain, I actually thought he was a great addition to this series. That I preferred his character over Mal is a testament to just how far the latter had fallen. Oh, Mal, Mal, Mal. What happened? I have very little patience for characters who drown their sorrows by getting so severely smashed that they can hardly even remember their own names. Or those who kiss other girls when they are supposed to be in love with someone else, for that matter.

Alina doesn’t get away scot-free either. This book sees her going through some big changes, after she and Mal are intercepted from their escape and taken back to the heart of Ravka to gear up for their fight against the Darkling. A darker side of her emerges, and though this is a result of certain events in the story, frankly her personality change disturbed me. Her arrival and new-found status also meant instigating a lot of social posturing within the egomaniacal ranks of the Grisha, giving the court an unpleasant dynamic, one reminiscent of a hormone-fueled high school cafeteria. Slipping deeper into her role of the Sun Summoner and the savior of her country, she begins to lose sight of what’s really important. This mostly means Mal, really.

While this review may sound critical, know that I really did enjoy this book. In embracing a lot of the YA conventions, it also fit my mood like a comfortable glove, much like the first book did. The story may have been a tad too focused on the drama between Alina and Mal, but it also did a couple things really well, mainly in 1) expanding the world of The Grisha and 2) ending things with a bang. If the pattern continues with this series, as the third and final book of the trilogy, Ruin and Rising should be amazing.